WSP: Trooper shoots driver after 130-mph chase down I-5

TACOMA, Wash. - A state trooper shot, captured and arrested a motorist who repeatedly rammed his patrol car following a chase at speeds of up to 130 mph down Interstate 5 early Saturday, the Washington State Patrol reported.

The trooper fired three shots at the driver, hitting him in the wrist.

The drama began just after midnight when the state trooper clocked the car heading south on I-5 at speeds of well over 100 mph near the King-Pierce County line.

The trooper set off in pursuit of the car, a 1993 Honda Prelude, and observed the driver recklessly weaving through traffic and passing other cars on the shoulder at high speed, the State Patrol reported.

The trooper activated his lights and siren, but the driver of the Honda refused to pull over and continued to speed south on I-5. The Honda finally stopped at the Bay Street exit in Tacoma, possibly after a crash.

As the state trooper pulled up behind and began to exit his vehicle, the Honda driver backed up and rammed the trooper's car while the trooper was standing behind his door, the State Patrol reported.

At some point, the Honda ended up nose to nose with the trooper's car as the suspect kept repeatedly ramming into it. The trooper then fired about three shots at the Honda driver in self-defense, striking the driver in the wrist.

At that point, the Honda driver turned his car around and again took off south on I-5. The trooper jumped back into his car and chased after him.

The suspect finally exited on Highway 16 with the same trooper in pursuit. As the trooper caught up with the Honda, he rammed it with his car and spun it around, pinning it against the guardrail at the side of the ramp.

The trooper then took the Honda driver into custody. He was later identified as a 23-year-old University Place man. He was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tacoma for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

The trooper also was taken to the hospital to be checked out for neck and back pain.